Letters
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- Written by: Jennifer Normoyle
Dear Editor,
Your recent article, “California communities can reduce wildfire damage by half. Here’s how,” is a powerful reminder that we already have the tools to protect our homes and neighborhoods from wildfire devastation. The UC Berkeley-led study makes it clear: home hardening and defensible space work. But knowing what works is only half the battle.
What’s often overlooked in the conversation is the cost and who is responsible for it. Upgrading infrastructure for wildfire resilience — such as retrofitting homes with fire-resistant materials and enhancing community-wide evacuation routes and water systems — requires significant investment. For many homeowners, particularly those in rural or lower-income areas, these costs can be prohibitive. Additionally, local governments may find the scale of investment needed to protect entire communities overwhelming.
We need a significant change in how the state of California distributes its wildfire mitigation funds. The majority of our state's budget is allocated yearly to fuel reduction projects, which are often located in remote wildlands. These projects do little to safeguard homes when fires approach populated areas. It's time to redirect those funds toward assisting homeowners and community leaders in implementing proven strategies — backed by science — right where the risk is highest.
We need grants, subsidies, and technical support for residents trying to harden their homes. We need funding for local governments to upgrade infrastructure and coordinate neighborhood-wide defensible space. And we need to treat wildfire resilience not as an individual burden, but as a shared responsibility.
Thank you for elevating this issue. With smart investments and community-driven action, we can turn the tide on wildfire destruction.
Jennifer Normoyle lives in Hillsborough, California.
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- Written by: Mary Borjon
It has been months since Rep. Mike Thompson first met with leaders of Lake County’s hospitals, health services, nonprofit agencies and other vital Lake County agencies, departments and service providers to identify and quantify the damage that the “The Big Beautiful Bill” would visit upon our communities should the bill pass.
The meeting was followed by a news conference that provided accurate information about potential hospital closures and other far-reaching impacts the bill would have on our rural Lake County.
On July 4, 2025, House Republicans did pass the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Many consider it to be the most regressive federal legislation in recent memory.
Cutting more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and stripping some 12 million Americans (real people, not just numbers) of their health insurance, the bill drastically increases the federal deficit to deliver more tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.
Prior to the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill” damage to our vital services and economic stability were already underway.
Because of the current administration’s slash and trash mentality, our local food pantries experienced an immediate cease of funding.
Our local Head Start Programs and community programs utilizing AmeriCorps workers received notice to cease all activity and services immediately.
Public schools received notice that federal education money, already budgeted and obligated for the coming academic year, would be withheld.
With the diligent work of advocates, legal entities and state governments, some of the slashed funding was restored, partially restored or is in legal limbo pending appeals and court decisions.
Implementation of “The Big Beautiful Bill” compounded by extreme tariffs and previous cuts continues to eat away at the financial stability, infrastructure and services that Americans, including those who live in Lake County, hold near and dear.
The Lake County Democrats’ booth at the Lake County Fair gave all fairgoers an opportunity to identify which destructive elements of the “Big Beautiful Bill” were hurting their lives the most.
Poll takers were given three tickets and could vote for the top three issues they identified as the most harmful. Because of the sweeping nature of the bill, not all elements were identified in the poll and more than a few booth visitors wished there had been a category reflecting the bill’s harm to labor and labor unions.
Three hundred and seventeen individuals took time to consider the 10 options and cast their votes.
When the votes were counted, the issues doing the most harm were identified as:
1. Cuts to Medicaid and loss of Medicare coverage;
2. Tax dollars going to billionaires; .
3. Failure to protect our immigrants with due process;
4. Fair elections without interference;
5. Selling off public lands and parks;
6. Cuts to veteran services/ reduction of veteran service providers.
Our citizens want to be heard. They want government leaders to understand the harm that the “Big Beautiful (UGLY) Bill” is doing to their personal lives and how the bill rips apart the very fabric that makes America compassionate, stable and functional.
Be sure that you exercise every opportunity to make your voice heard.
Mary Borjon lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Janet Rosen
“Are your papers in order?”
This common phrase in old movies, barked in a German accent, had a clear meaning: only in places like Nazi Germany could an armed person demand proof of citizenship and arrest anyone without the right documents. Equally clear was the unspoken message that this was distinctly unAmerican and wouldn’t be tolerated in a free country.
Well, what about now? Are YOUR papers in order? Yes, right now: with what you have in your wallet, purse, pocket, or even in a safe deposit box, could you prove that you’re an American citizen and entitled to vote?
This isn’t a theoretical question. Republican members of Congress are pushing a bill called the SAVE Act. If it were to become law, millions of us would be robbed of the right to vote because the papers we always relied on simply aren’t “in order” anymore.
Let’s look at the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (H.R.22/S.128).
It says that in order to register and to vote you have to provide a U.S. passport, birth certificate, or citizenship certificate. This means
Your drivers license won’t work! Licenses that meet Real ID requirements don’t indicate citizenship. Only a document called an “Enhanced Drivers License” indicates citizenship, and these are available in just five states.
Your military ID won’t work either, unless it is accompanied by your military service record and IF that record shows you were born in the U.S.A.
Your Tribal ID might work IF it says you were born in the U.S.A. But most Tribal IDs don’t list a place of birth.
What about a birth certificate? Well, even if you can find or replace yours, it only works if your current name and gender on a photo ID matches the name on your birth certificate. The bottom line is that a lot of women will lose the right to vote.
• About 69 million women in the U.S.A. changed their names when they married.
• About 4 million men did too.
• The most common reason for legal name changes is just plain disliking the name you were given at birth.
• Changes due to divorce and adoption are also widespread.
• There are many people who, due to adoption or unstable family history, aren’t sure what city, county, or state they were born in, so they can’t request a copy of their birth certificate.
Doesn’t everybody have a passport? Um … nope. Almost half of us don’t.
• About 146 million citizens don’t have a passport.
• In seven states, less than one-third of citizens have a valid passport: West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.
• Only in four states do more than two-thirds of the citizens have a valid passport: New York, Massachusetts, California, and New Jersey.
This doesn’t sound so good. But wait, there’s more!
As over 12 percent of Americans move each year, millions of voters would also be required to find these documents any time they change their address.
The SAVE Act would do away with voter registration by mail because all applicants would have to provide documentary proof of citizenship in person. It would also require states and counties to completely rebuild their online systems.
California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber points out that the Act imposes unrealistic, costly, and unnecessary requirements on state and local elections officials. It threatens hardworking civil servants with fines and jail time for simply doing their jobs if any member of the public has a complaint.
Mendocino County Registrar of Voters Katrina Bartolomei reports that while totally revamping and maintaining our system under the Act would be mandated by the Federal government, it’s an “unfunded mandate.” Put plainly, not a penny of our Federal tax dollars will come back to us to help pay for it.
The SAVE Act demands that states do ongoing voter purges based on data known to be faulty. Federal courts have acknowledged that databases identified in the Act, like state DMV databases and the federal Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements, are highly inaccurate. An audit by the North Carolina State Board of Elections found that over 97% of people identified as non-citizens by their DMV actually were citizens.
The Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements database incorrectly identified 75% of naturalized citizens as being non-citizens. Relying on these error-ridden programs would automatically remove thousands of eligible voters from the rolls.
As if this isn’t bad enough… there are California state legislators eager to see a similar bill be enacted here.
What can I do?
• Contact your elected representatives to let them know you expect them to oppose the SAVE Act.
• Share this information with friends and family in other states so they can contact their representatives.
• Protect your own right to vote by making sure your IDs match up and by obtaining any needed documents.
Janet Rosen lives in Ukiah, California.
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- Written by: Julia Carrera
Dear Editor,
On June 2, 2025, I officially launched my campaign for Third District supervisor, leading up to the upcoming election on June 2, 2026, at a joyful and energizing event at the Lucerne Bistro.
The existing incumbent, EJ Crandell is also running. Which means this coming election on June 2, 2026, all Northshore voters have a choice for who represents them, advocates for them, and celebrates their successes at the Board of Supervisors and beyond.
While I have many priorities for Lake County, including but not limited to roads, blight, food resiliency/agriculture, pensions, seniors/mobile home parks, etc., I have five top platform priorities i am currently working on as a candidate and will continue this work and follow it through to positive resolution once elected – listed are just a few of the things I'm working on within these five priorities:
• Accountability, Transparency and Inclusivity: I have been working with community members to file public information requests to learn facts around areas of concern. This has resulted in uncovering Upper Lake Biochar location grant requirements that weren’t followed by the County; Lake Pillsbury dams seismic reporting that shows the dams are in good working order for another 100 years and Spring Valley PSA water loss averages which are currently at approximately 50%+-. I am now canvassing door to door and sharing my factual knowledge acquired through attending BOS meetings on a regular basis since 2024.
• Positive Economic & Community Growth: Through my Coffee with the Candidate events, we are creating the People’s Lake County Strategic Plan, a document that encompasses resiliency plans and micro systems for energy, food and water to build positive economic and community growth. My team and I are working with the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center with an upcoming program for the Northshore mobile home parks to install brand new smoke detectors and work with compromised communities on the Northshore to bring needed outreach and focus on positively improving compromised communities. I am advocating for entrepreneurship and workforce development opportunities and will continue to do so once elected.
• Water Resources: I have been investigating the unusual situation where Lake County is responsible for Clearlake’s water quality, while Yolo County owns the water rights — an uncommon legal arrangement in California. I’ve also advocated for clearing the Upper Lake Levee channel and successfully secured grant funding for an Upper Lake flood evacuation plan, flood warning enhancement and flood recovery that is now being administered by Lake County OES. And worked with the Farm Bureau to bring awareness of CDFW registration of wells within 1,000 ft. of a tributary/creek/waterbody and the future landscape that brings.
• Public Safety & Disaster Preparedness: I have been attending federal FEMA workshops on the recent federal changes to FEMA and identifying how that affects us here in Lake County along with the Lake County public outreach meetings and surveys on Disaster Preparedness and Climate Resiliency, focusing on flooding since fire rightfully dominates these meetings. I am promoting Disaster Preparedness Stations, where we store chainsaws, shovels, pumps, blankets, water, etc. ready for when a disaster hits, empowering citizens to have tools to recover with. And, to educate our community members on the use of these tools and disaster recovery.
• Solving the Homelessness Crises for People and Pets: I attend the BOS appointed Animal Care and Control Advisory Council and offer input. I am working with the superintendent of schools to create a vet tech/veterinary education track to support the strong need for mass spay/neutering in Lake County. I have been conducting research in the field with our homeless population to have a true understanding of the culture and support quantitative housing first approach to solving homelessness. I am also a voting member of the Continuum of Care.
I started canvassing and the Julia for Supervisor 2026 Team is in the Northshore neighborhoods, it is deeply inspiring. Lake County Citizens have welcomed me and the Team into their homes sharing their concerns, dreams, frustrations, and solutions.
I am a scientist and believe in data-driven decision making. I have been a subject matter expert at the state capital in addition to working with multiple Boards of Supervisors and their staff and department heads, including Lake County – establishing long standing relationships with local governments and well rounded experience navigating bureaucratic systems. I have lived in our beautiful Lake County for over 50 years and love our community deeply.
“We Can Do Better Together” is my slogan. I believe in the potential of our community, and together, we can build a better future for Lake County — one that reflects our shared values of resilience, opportunity, and unity. If you believe we can build a stronger, more resilient Lake County together, I encourage you to join my campaign, share your voice, and make your vote count in the election on June 2, 2026.
Third District Supervisor candidate Julia Carrera lives in Upper Lake, California.
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